Belizean Writers Series
Encyclopedia
The Belizean Writers Series, published by local media house Cubola Productions, preserves some of the best of Belize
an arts and letters, mainly poetry and short stories. The series began in 1995 and is ongoing.
The General Editor of the series is Michael D. Phillips.
, all stories were in English.
Minerva Aponte-Jolly was born in Puerto Rico
. When she was eleven, her family moved to New York City
. In 1972, Aponte-Jolly moved to Belize with her husband and children and made Benque Viejo Town her new home. She enjoys inventing stories for her four grandchildren.
Leo H. Bradley Sr. (1926–2001) was a career librarian and teacher with a keen interest in history. He lived for some years in Trinidad
and the United Kingdom
where he studied librarianship before becoming the first qualified Belizean librarian. He served both as a government archivist and as Chief Librarian as well as a newspaper editor. In his honor, the headquarters of the Belize National Library Service was named the Leo Bradley Library.
Jessie Nuñez Castillo, a Garifuna woman, was born in the village of Hopkins
in the Stann Creek District
, Belize. She is an elementary school teacher and has taught both in Belize and in Los Angeles
, California. She received her elementary school education at Holy Family School in Hopkins, and attended Austin High School in Dangriga
and the Belize Teachers College. Castillo earned a BA in English (Creative Writing) from Union Institute in Los Angeles. She has been published in Garifuna Folktales.
Sandra Crough was born in Honduras
. At the age of three, she was brought by her paternal grandmother to Belize, at the time British Honduras
, where she grew up. She attended St. Mary’s Elementary School and later St. Catherine Academy. After high school, Crough taught for a year at St. Mary’s Elementary School before migrating to England
to study nursing. Later, she moved to the United States
, where she earned a degree in Safety and Occupational Health and worked as a safety specialist in that field. She started writing six years ago and earned an MFA and has written short stories published in Writers’ Journal. With a certificate in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), she currently tutors in adult education, and lives in Los Angeles with her husband.
Holly Edgell is an Assistant Professor of Journalism at Florida A&M University
in Tallahassee, Florida
. She was born in Belize City
, and although she mostly grew up overseas, she completed part of her primary and post-secondary education in Belize. Edgell joined Florida A&M in 2001 after working as a television news producer in the USA. Her career took her from Youngstown, Ohio
to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Cleveland, Ohio, and Detroit, Michigan. She got her start in broadcast journalism
as the first news director for Great Belize Television’s News 5. In 1995, Edgell earned a Master of Arts degree in Journalism from Kent State University
. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Michigan State University
with the support of a scholarship from the Government of Belize, her prize for winning the 1986-87 Miss Belize
crown. Holly Edgell is the daughter of Al and Zee Edgell and is married to Eduardo Lopez of Havana
, Cuba.
Zee Edgell was born in Belize in 1940. She worked as a reporter for the Daily Gleaner of Kingston, Jamaica
, and was also the first editor of the Reporter, a Belizean newspaper. From 1966 to 1968 Edgell taught at St. Catherine’s Academy in Belize City
. She was head of the Women’s Bureau in the government of Belize for the period 1981-1982. From 1986-1987 she was director of the Department of Women’s Affairs. She lectured at the University College of Belize from 1988 to 1989, and was visiting professor at Old Dominion University
in Virginia
in 1993. Edgell is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at Kent State University
where she teaches Creative Writing. She is the author of Beka Lamb (1982), In Times Like These (1991), The Festival of San Joaquin (1997), and Time and the River (2007), all published by Heinemann
, Oxford. Three of her short stories have also been published: “Longtime Story”, “My Uncle Theophilus” and “The Entertainment”.
Zoila M. Ellis (born 1957) began writing poems and short stories at the age of eight. A practicing attorney, she studied law at the University of the West Indies
from 1974 to 1980, and after returning to Belize she worked as a Magistrate, a Crown Counsel, and was the first Director of the Belize Legal Aid Center. Ellis holds a Master’s degree in Development Studies from the University of Sussex
in the United Kingdom
. She resides in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and is Belize’s Honorary Consul for that country.
Kathleen Esquivel is the author of Under the Shade (1991) and has written and produced several one-act plays. A naturalized Belizean, Esquivel holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Bristol University in England. She taught secondary school mathematics and chemistry from 1969 to 1993 and was Vice-Principal of Wesley College in Belize City
from 1987 to 1993. In 1997 she updated a UNICEF document, “The Right to a Future: a situational analysis of children in Belize”. She also chaired the editorial board for the UNICEF publication “From Girls to Women, Growing up Healthy in Belize” and regularly writes newspaper articles. Esquivel served as the president of the National Women’s Commission in Belize and as president and secretary of the Belize Mental Health Advisory Board. She also served as secretary of the Belize Cancer Society and is a patroness of the Belize Family Life Association.
George S. Gabb (1928–2007) was the last child of 16 in his family and had no further formal school than a primary school education at St. John's Primary School. From the age of 13 Gabb began to explore his interests in the arts on his own. Today, he is celebrated in Belize a very accomplished, self-taught sculptor in wood, stone, steel and ceramic, as well as a painter, designer, actor, boat-builder, writer and poet. Throughout his life, Gabb won numerous awards for his poetry, play writing, producing and directing. In June 1974 in Belize City, Mr. Gabb received the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, M.B.A., from the Queen of England (H.E. Queen Elizabeth II) for his contribution to the arts in general.
Carol Fonseca Galvez (born 1964) is a writer of short stories, poems and plays. She served as an English lecturer at St. John's College Junior College before being appointed as Executive Director of the Women’s Department in Belize. Fonseca obtained a Bachelor of Arts from Viterbo College in Wisconsin
, a Masters of Arts from the University of Leeds
, England and a PhD in English from the University of the West Indies
. In 1991 Fonseca won the National Poetry Contest sponsored by the Ministry of Education and the University College of Belize's Short Story Contest. Her play "Tiky Bood" received wide acclaim in the 1990s.
Shannon A. Gillett holds a Master of Education degree from the University of North Florida
. She currently works as a Curriculum Officer in the Ministry of Education in Belize. Gillett served as a Lecturer in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the University of Belize and is member of the Belize Chamber Group, and the Pantempters Steel Orchestra.
Felicia Ogaldez Hernandez was born in 1932 in Dangriga
Town, Belize, where she received her formal education. She joined the teaching profession in 1948 and taught in various parts of Belize. She received a trained as a teacher’s diploma from the Belize Teachers College in 1970. Later that year, Hernandez and her family migrated to the US where she continued to teach and took up writing. Hernandez is the author of four books: I don’t know you but I love you (1978), Those Ridiculous Years (1982), Narenga (1993), and Reflections and Other Family Stories (2000). She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative Writing from SUNY Empire State
in New York
, and is a member of the Association of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars (ACWWS). In 1978, Hernandez was awarded an honorary service award from the California
Congress of Parents and Teachers in San Jose.
Yvette M. Holland was born in Belize City
in 1972. She attended Catholic primary and secondary schools in Belize City and later earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English at Le Moyne College
in Syracuse, New York
. She later earned a Master’s Degree in English from Boston College
. Holland currently teaches Composition and Literature at St. John’s Junior College Junior College in Belize City.
Evan X Hyde (born 1947) is the publisher of the Amandala newspaper and an outspoken advocate for the advancement of black people. He majored in English at Dartmouth College
in Hanover, New Hampshire
. On his return to Belize he helped form the United Black Association for Development (UBAD) and became its second president in 1969. Hyde is the author of several fiction and nonfiction works, including X Communications (Angelus Press 1995) and Sports, Sin and Subversion (Ramos 2008). Hyde is also an accomplished poet and playwright.
Ivory Kelly was born in Sittee River
Village, Belize. She is a career educator who has taught at the primary and secondary levels in Belize for almost two decades and in Los Angeles
for three years. She also served as Teacher Supervisor at the Belize Teachers College, as Assistant Headmaster of Academic Affairs at St. John’s College, and as a part-time English lecturer at the University of Belize
. She is the author of Point of Order: Poetry and Prose published by Ramos Publishing in 2009. Her writings also appear in She (Factory Books); Treasures of a Century (Belize National Library Service); Memories, Dreams and Nightmares; and The Alchemy of Words Vol. 2 (Cubola Books). Kelly is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Creative Writing at East Carolina University
and works as an editorial assistant on the North Carolina Literary Review.
Arifah Hayat Lightburn was born in Belize City
in 1979, the first of three children of Gilbert and Margaret Lightburn. She received her primary level education from Saint Catherine’s Elementary and graduated from Saint Catherine‘s Academy before going on to Saint John’s Junior College where she majored in biology and general studies. She transferred to the University of South Florida
to study creative writing. After her first degree, she plans to get her MA in Fine Arts, and eventually a Ph.D. She writes for the Amandala newspaper, and enjoys exploring and writing about women and issues that concern them. She is considering a career related to women’s studies and education.
Lydia Balderamos Loskot, the second of eight children, grew up in Belize City. Educated by Mercy nuns at St. Catherine Academy during the 1960s, Lascot acquired a solid background in English as well as religious formation in Catholicism. Her formative years in pre-independence and pre-television Belize paralleled a growing interest in nationalism, culture, and the performing arts in the outer society. Loskot holds a Master’s Degree in English and works in higher education.
Myrna Manzanares holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology with a minor in Education from Pepperdine University
in southern California. She completed postgraduate work in Community Clinical Psychology from California State University, Long Beach
and is a trained counselor. Manzanares worked as a teacher for 15 years in California
before moving back to live and work in Belize
in 1986. She worked as a Lecturer at the Belize Teachers College, and the University College of Belize; as the Program Specialist/ Manager for Pride Belize, and as a Master Trainer with the Belize Institute of Management. Most of her work in Belize has been in the areas of culture, drug abuse prevention, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence and other social and development areas. As a professional storyteller and dramatist, Manzanares writes mainly about social issues and supernatural folklore. She has one daughter and an adopted son.
Corinth Morter-Lewis is a lecturer at the University of Belize
where she served as President from 2003 to 2007. She was born in Belize City
and educated at Ebenezer Primary School, the Belize Technical College, the University of New Brunswick
in Canada, Ball State University
in the United States, and the University of Alberta
, Canada. She holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology as a Chartered Psychologist. Lewis’s writing career began in 1957 when she won her first short story contest sponsored by the then Belize Billboard, and between 1965 and 1996 she received various awards in national poetry contests for her poems “Arise” and “United.” In 1976 Lewis published an anthology of some forty poems in Share My Song. Her poems address a wide range of themes spanning childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. Lewis was a key player in the development of Belize’s National Arts Council during its formative years and was appointed its first Chairperson in 1981.
Mary Gomez Parham lives in Houston, Texas
, and is a poet and writer of fiction. She holds a Ph.D. in Spanish from UCLA and has been a professor of Spanish for many years at the University of Houston
. She is the recipient of two Fulbright grants and has published widely in the fields of Latin American literature and culture. With Timothy Hagerty, she published If Di Pin Neva Ben: Folktales and Legends of Belize (Cubola Productions). Her poetry has been anthologized in On Words: An Anthology of Belizean Poetry (Cubola Productions) and Echoes for a New Room: Twelve Voices (Brown Rabbit Press) and has been published in various magazines and journals including The Caribbean Writer.
Michael D. Phillips made his first visit to Belize in 1982 and has been back many times since. What began as an innocent interest has become a passion, both personal and academic. He has presented his research on Belize at the SPEAR conference, 'Latin American Studies Association Convention Interdisciplinary Belize Conference' (1992), and at several smaller regional meetings. He has written extensively about tourism
in Belize and recently published an article on that subject in Belizean Studies. Professor Phillips currently teaches in the Department of Humanities, Classics, and Comparative Literature at Brigham Young University
in Provo, Utah
, where he is working on a history of the Festival of Arts as part of a larger work concerned with Nationalism and Cultural Change in Belize. Previous to his work at Brigham Young University, Professor Phillips was a graduate student at the University of Chicago
, where he organized a workshop on Belize which included the participation of Zee Edgell and Robert Reneau. With a background in cultural studies, Professor Phillips is committed to the collection and preservation of the best of Belizean Arts and Letters.
Ingrid Reneau is a native Belizean who migrated to the United States when she was 13. She holds a Ph.D. in Literatures in English from Rutgers University
. Her research interests include Literatures of the African Diaspora
, especially women writers; African Diaspora Rituals and Spirituality; and Black Feminist Theory. She is an Assistant Professor and holds a joint appointment in the English Department and Women’s Studies Program at the University of South Carolina
. In 2007 Reneau was appointed education officer in Sudan
.
Helen Elliott Rocke is a Belizean educator and author. Her desire to write was encouraged through childhood experiences she had in rural villages of the Belize District and the West Indian islands of Barbados
and Trinidad
. Helen graduated from the Belize Teachers’ College in 1983. She later won the President’s Prize on the ACP examination in 1994 from the College of Teachers
in England. Helen is presently completing a Master’s Degree in Instruction and Curriculum from the University of North Florida
. As a member of the Belize Kriol Project, Helen wrote part-time in the Weh Ah Gat Fi Seh articles in the Amandala and Reporter newspapers. She began her career as an author of Belizean children’s literature in 1994. Her Jimbo Mysteries are used in many Belizean primary schools.
Gladys Stuart (born 1917) was a career educator well-known for her sense of humor and dramatic abilities. She began working at the age of 14, teaching all grades as well as serving as principal for five decades. Her radio program "Cousin Winnifred" is remembered fondly by many Belizeans as are her numerous comedic performances.
Sylvia Nablo de Vasquez was born in Quebec
, Canada, and moved to the Saskatchewan
prairie at the age of four. When she was eight years old her parents moved with her and her siblings to San Ignacio, Belize as Baha’i pioneers. Over the years Sylvia moved back and forth between the two countries, but lived more than half her life in Belize. Nablo de Vasquez currently lives in Swift Current, on the Saskatchewan prairie with her husband and their three children, who were born in Belize.
Melba Marin-Velasquez was born in San Ignacio Town, Belize. She attended Sacred Heart College and the University College of Belize. She holds a Master’s degree in Secondary Education from the University of North Florida
. She has taught at Sacred Heart College for many years.
Lawrence G. Vernon (born 1937) is a librarian who studied in the United Kingdom
and worked for many years in the Belize National Library Service before being appointed Chief Librarian. He is currently Library Director at the University College of Belize.
Evadne L. Wade-Garcia (1950–2005) served as Director of the Geology and Petroleum Unit in Belize’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Transportation. She studied petroleum law at the University of the West Indies
, Jamaica
and the University of Dundee
, Scotland
. She is a writer of both children's books and novels.
John Alexander Waller has resided in Los Angeles
, USA, for some time. He was the driving force behind an earlier collection of short stories, Among My Souvenirs, which he co-authored with Leo Bradley and Lawrence Vernon. His later works often appeared in Brukdown, and he is known for his epic poetry which focuses on Belizean history.
Shirley Warde (1901–1991) was an expatriate American and Off Broadway actress who first visited Belize in 1953 as a Baha'i missionary. She spent the rest of her life in the country and was actively involved in theatre, collecting folk tales, and wood carving. She also worked as a teacher and editor. Warde's best-known production was the musical extravaganza Boss King which played a record 19 sold-out performances at the Bliss Institute in 1965.
Gay Wilentz (-2006) served for many years as Director of Ethnic Studies and Professor of English at East Carolina University
and Visiting Professor at the University of Belize
. Her first critical work, Binding Cultures: Black Women Writers in Africa and the Diaspora, examines women’s role in the transmission of culture on both sides of the Atlantic
. Wilentz is the co-editor of Africa World Press’s Emerging Perspectives on Ama Ata Aidoo, and she is the editor of Jewish immigrant writer Anzia Yezierska’s 1923 novel, Salome of the Tenements, reprinted in 1991. Wilentz has published essays in College English, African American Review, Research in African Literatures, Twentieth Century Literature, and MELUS, among other publications. She also contributed chapters in books on authors from the US, the African continent and the Caribbean. Her most recent book, Healing Narratives: Women Writers Curing Cultural Dis-Ease, is an interdisciplinary, critical work that explores cultural healing in women’s writings of the African Diaspora, indigenous cultures, and the Jewish Diaspora.
Natalie Williams was born in Belize City
, Belize. After high school, she won the Governor General’s scholarship which allowed her to earn a Bachelor of Education in English and Art Education from the University of Victoria
in British Columbia
, Canada. 1990 currently teaches at Sacred Heart College in San Ignacio after teaching at St. John’s Junior College in Belize City. Her creativity extends to painting, and she has works with special needs students at Stella Maris School in two-dimensional artwork.
Sir Colville Young (born 1932) became Belize's second Governor-General in November 1993. He studied at the University of the West Indies
and the University of York
in the United Kingdom. Before his appointment as Governor-General Young was a lecturer at the University College of Belize where he served as founding president. He is a prolific author, composer, playwright and poet.
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
an arts and letters, mainly poetry and short stories. The series began in 1995 and is ongoing.
The General Editor of the series is Michael D. Phillips.
Snapshots of Belize: An Anthology of Belizean Short Fiction (1995)
Deals with short fiction published in the previous thirty years. With the exception of "Crab Seasin", written entirely in Belize CreoleBelizean Kriol language
Belizean Creole English, known as Kriol by its speakers, is an English-based creole language most closely related to Miskito Coastal Creole, Limón Coastal Creole, Colón Creole, San Andrés and Providencia Creole, Guyanese Creole, Jamaican Patois and English creoles of the Caribbean show similarity...
, all stories were in English.
Authors represented
- Leo Bradley:
- Elastic Gold: A fisherman and his son attempt to outrun shady characters who want the floating rubber that represents a chance at a better life.
- The Day of the Bridge: The Belize CityBelize CityBelize City is the largest city in the Central American nation of Belize. Unofficial estimates place the population of Belize City at 70,000 or more. It is located at the mouth of the Belize River on the coast of the Caribbean. The city is the country's principal port and its financial and...
Swing Bridge is the villain of this story about a youth whose chance for happiness is destroyed by a series of unfortunate circumstances.
- Sir Colville YoungColville YoungSir Colville Norbert Young, GCMG, MBE is the Governor General of Belize, and also patron of the Scout Association of Belize. He was appointed Governor-General in 1993, taking office on 17 November of that year, and was knighted in 1994....
:- The Representative: This selection from Pataki Full takes aim at Belizean politicians in the guise of the slippery Jonas Parker, who learns a hard lesson about the nature of politics for poor people.
- Sugar: Also from Pataki Full; Orange WalkOrange walkOrange walks are a series of parades held annually by members of the Orange Order during the summer in Northern Ireland, to a lesser extent in Scotland, and occasionally in England, the Republic of Ireland, and throughout the Commonwealth...
restaurateur has run-in with elderly customer who must resort to shadiness to stay alive.
- Zoila Ellis:
- The Teacher: Taken from On Heroes, Lizards and Passion; a priest and teacher attempts to find peace in a village in rural Belize, but not before facing his past.
- Evan X HydeEvan X HydeEvan Anthony Hyde is a writer and journalist. He publishes and writes for the nation's largest newspaper, the Amandala, as well as oversee its subsidiaries, KREM Radio and Krem Television...
:- A Conscience for Christmas: Would-be player Caldo meets his match in a "Christmas CarolA Christmas CarolA Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
"-esque episode in Belize City.
- A Conscience for Christmas: Would-be player Caldo meets his match in a "Christmas Carol
- John Alexander Watler:
- Bitter Sweet Revenge: College-educated youths pursue attractive sisters but find trouble in the form of their father.
- Lawrence Vernon:
- The Third Wish: Be careful what you wish for? A seemingly innocent stone brought home by archaeologist Jim Hilton spells trouble for his family.
- Evadne Wade Garcia:
- Crab Seasin: Remembrance of a playful episode involving city boys in search of crab meat, a local delicacy.
Ping Wing Juk Me: Six Belizean Plays (1998)
Six original plays written and performed in Belize between 1970 and the time of publication were included in this volume:- Carol Fonseca Galvez, "Shame on You Tiky Bood": The titular character attempts to fool his wife in order to go to a party, but is found out and tricked himself.
- Sir Colville YoungColville YoungSir Colville Norbert Young, GCMG, MBE is the Governor General of Belize, and also patron of the Scout Association of Belize. He was appointed Governor-General in 1993, taking office on 17 November of that year, and was knighted in 1994....
, "Riding Haas": theatrical adaptation of a story featuring the trickster spider AnansiAnansiAnansi the trickster is a spider, and is one of the most important characters of West African and Caribbean folklore.He is also known as Ananse, Kwaku Ananse, and Anancy; and in the Southern United States he has evolved into Aunt Nancy. He is a spider, but often acts and appears as a man...
, who plays a clever trick on nemesis Braa Tiger to prove a point. - Gladys Stuart, "Dog and Iguana": Moral fable about the value of company.
- Shirley Warde, "When My Father Comes Home": The absentee father of a youth sentenced to hang tries to reason with his mother about the circumstances leading to his death.
- George GabbGeorge GabbGeorge Seymour Gabb, M.B.E. was a Belizean artist, sculptor, writer and entertainer.-Career:Gabb was born in Belize City and educated no further than primary school. At age 13, he began to take up the arts and soon gained a following as a sculptor...
, "Yellowtail": Philosophical story about four men trying to understand their roots. - Evan X HydeEvan X HydeEvan Anthony Hyde is a writer and journalist. He publishes and writes for the nation's largest newspaper, the Amandala, as well as oversee its subsidiaries, KREM Radio and Krem Television...
, "Haad Time": Deals with the topic of teenage pregnancy from the eyes of a young Belize City couple.
Of Words: An Anthology of Belizean Poetry (1999)
Features poems by a number of Belizean authors, young and old, published and unpublished.If Di Pin Neva Ben: Folktales and Legends of Belize (2001)
Covers folktales and mythological legends native to Belize and surrounding areas.Contributors
- Mary Gomez Parham
- Dr. Timothy Hagerty
- Dr. Ervin Beck
- David Ruiz
- Jessie Castillo
- Elizabeth Cardenas
- Ines Sanchez
Contributors
- Iris Abraham
- Sandra Crough
- Zee Edgell
- Helen Elliot Rocke
- Carol Fonseca
- Shannon Gillett
- Mary Gomez Parham
- Yvette Holland
- Ivory Kelly
- Lydia Loskot
- Myrna Manzanares
- Corinth Morter-Lewis
- Ingrid Reneau.
Contributors
- Minerva Aponte-Jolly
- Jessie Nuñez Castillo
- Sandra Crough
- Holly Edgell
- Zee Edgell
- Zoila Ellis
- Kathy Esquivel
- Felicia Hernandez
- Yvette Holland
- Arifah Lightburn
- Myrna Manzanares
- Melba Marin-Velasquez
- Sylvia Nablo de Vasquez
- Natalie Williams
About the authors
Iris Abraham has been a teacher and a Craft Instructor for many years in Belize and received the British Empire’s Medal (BEM) in 1965 for her work in teaching craft, especially basketry, and community service work in Belize. She lived and worked in the U.S. for many years as a recreational nurse for the elderly. During her time in the U.S. Abraham continued the tradition of honoring mothers as was done in her village of Gales Point.Minerva Aponte-Jolly was born in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. When she was eleven, her family moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In 1972, Aponte-Jolly moved to Belize with her husband and children and made Benque Viejo Town her new home. She enjoys inventing stories for her four grandchildren.
Leo H. Bradley Sr. (1926–2001) was a career librarian and teacher with a keen interest in history. He lived for some years in Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
where he studied librarianship before becoming the first qualified Belizean librarian. He served both as a government archivist and as Chief Librarian as well as a newspaper editor. In his honor, the headquarters of the Belize National Library Service was named the Leo Bradley Library.
Jessie Nuñez Castillo, a Garifuna woman, was born in the village of Hopkins
Hopkins, Belize
Hopkins is a coastal town in eastern Belize.Hopkins is a Garifuna village on the coast of the Stann Creek District in Belize. Hopkins is considered by some Belizeans to be the cultural center of the Garifuna population in Belize...
in the Stann Creek District
Stann Creek District
Stann Creek District is a district in the south east region of Belize. According to the 2010 census, the district had a population of 32,166 people...
, Belize. She is an elementary school teacher and has taught both in Belize and in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California. She received her elementary school education at Holy Family School in Hopkins, and attended Austin High School in Dangriga
Dangriga
Dangriga, formerly known as Stann Creek Town, is a town in southern Belize, located on the Caribbean coast at the mouth of Stann Creek. It is the capital of Belize's Stann Creek District and also the largest town in southern Belize...
and the Belize Teachers College. Castillo earned a BA in English (Creative Writing) from Union Institute in Los Angeles. She has been published in Garifuna Folktales.
Sandra Crough was born in Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
. At the age of three, she was brought by her paternal grandmother to Belize, at the time British Honduras
British Honduras
British Honduras was a British colony that is now the independent nation of Belize.First colonised by Spaniards in the 17th century, the territory on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, became a British crown colony from 1862 until 1964, when it became self-governing. Belize became...
, where she grew up. She attended St. Mary’s Elementary School and later St. Catherine Academy. After high school, Crough taught for a year at St. Mary’s Elementary School before migrating to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to study nursing. Later, she moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where she earned a degree in Safety and Occupational Health and worked as a safety specialist in that field. She started writing six years ago and earned an MFA and has written short stories published in Writers’ Journal. With a certificate in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), she currently tutors in adult education, and lives in Los Angeles with her husband.
Holly Edgell is an Assistant Professor of Journalism at Florida A&M University
Florida A&M University
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, commonly known as Florida A&M or FAMU, is a historically black university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States, the state capital, and is one of eleven member institutions of the State University System of Florida...
in Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...
. She was born in Belize City
Belize City
Belize City is the largest city in the Central American nation of Belize. Unofficial estimates place the population of Belize City at 70,000 or more. It is located at the mouth of the Belize River on the coast of the Caribbean. The city is the country's principal port and its financial and...
, and although she mostly grew up overseas, she completed part of her primary and post-secondary education in Belize. Edgell joined Florida A&M in 2001 after working as a television news producer in the USA. Her career took her from Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County; it also extends into Trumbull County. The municipality is situated on the Mahoning River, approximately southeast of Cleveland and northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Cleveland, Ohio, and Detroit, Michigan. She got her start in broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are "broadcast", that is, published by electrical methods, instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. Broadcast methods include radio , television , and, especially recently, the Internet generally...
as the first news director for Great Belize Television’s News 5. In 1995, Edgell earned a Master of Arts degree in Journalism from Kent State University
Kent State University
Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...
. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
with the support of a scholarship from the Government of Belize, her prize for winning the 1986-87 Miss Belize
Miss Belize
Miss Belize is the title given to the winner of beauty pageants held yearly in Belize to select a national beauty ambassador to represent Belize at various international pageants such as Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss Earth, Miss International, Miss Supranational, and Miss Latin America to name a...
crown. Holly Edgell is the daughter of Al and Zee Edgell and is married to Eduardo Lopez of Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba.
Zee Edgell was born in Belize in 1940. She worked as a reporter for the Daily Gleaner of Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
, and was also the first editor of the Reporter, a Belizean newspaper. From 1966 to 1968 Edgell taught at St. Catherine’s Academy in Belize City
Belize City
Belize City is the largest city in the Central American nation of Belize. Unofficial estimates place the population of Belize City at 70,000 or more. It is located at the mouth of the Belize River on the coast of the Caribbean. The city is the country's principal port and its financial and...
. She was head of the Women’s Bureau in the government of Belize for the period 1981-1982. From 1986-1987 she was director of the Department of Women’s Affairs. She lectured at the University College of Belize from 1988 to 1989, and was visiting professor at Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University is a state university located in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools...
in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
in 1993. Edgell is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at Kent State University
Kent State University
Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...
where she teaches Creative Writing. She is the author of Beka Lamb (1982), In Times Like These (1991), The Festival of San Joaquin (1997), and Time and the River (2007), all published by Heinemann
Heinemann (book publisher)
Heinemann is a UK publishing house founded by William Heinemann in Covent Garden, London in 1890. On William Heinemann's death in 1920 a majority stake was purchased by U.S. publisher Doubleday. It was later acquired by commemorate Thomas Tilling in 1961...
, Oxford. Three of her short stories have also been published: “Longtime Story”, “My Uncle Theophilus” and “The Entertainment”.
Zoila M. Ellis (born 1957) began writing poems and short stories at the age of eight. A practicing attorney, she studied law at the University of the West Indies
University of the West Indies
The University of the West Indies , is an autonomous regional institution supported by and serving 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica,...
from 1974 to 1980, and after returning to Belize she worked as a Magistrate, a Crown Counsel, and was the first Director of the Belize Legal Aid Center. Ellis holds a Master’s degree in Development Studies from the University of Sussex
University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is an English public research university situated next to the East Sussex village of Falmer, within the city of Brighton and Hove. The University received its Royal Charter in August 1961....
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. She resides in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and is Belize’s Honorary Consul for that country.
Kathleen Esquivel is the author of Under the Shade (1991) and has written and produced several one-act plays. A naturalized Belizean, Esquivel holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Bristol University in England. She taught secondary school mathematics and chemistry from 1969 to 1993 and was Vice-Principal of Wesley College in Belize City
Belize City
Belize City is the largest city in the Central American nation of Belize. Unofficial estimates place the population of Belize City at 70,000 or more. It is located at the mouth of the Belize River on the coast of the Caribbean. The city is the country's principal port and its financial and...
from 1987 to 1993. In 1997 she updated a UNICEF document, “The Right to a Future: a situational analysis of children in Belize”. She also chaired the editorial board for the UNICEF publication “From Girls to Women, Growing up Healthy in Belize” and regularly writes newspaper articles. Esquivel served as the president of the National Women’s Commission in Belize and as president and secretary of the Belize Mental Health Advisory Board. She also served as secretary of the Belize Cancer Society and is a patroness of the Belize Family Life Association.
George S. Gabb (1928–2007) was the last child of 16 in his family and had no further formal school than a primary school education at St. John's Primary School. From the age of 13 Gabb began to explore his interests in the arts on his own. Today, he is celebrated in Belize a very accomplished, self-taught sculptor in wood, stone, steel and ceramic, as well as a painter, designer, actor, boat-builder, writer and poet. Throughout his life, Gabb won numerous awards for his poetry, play writing, producing and directing. In June 1974 in Belize City, Mr. Gabb received the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, M.B.A., from the Queen of England (H.E. Queen Elizabeth II) for his contribution to the arts in general.
Carol Fonseca Galvez (born 1964) is a writer of short stories, poems and plays. She served as an English lecturer at St. John's College Junior College before being appointed as Executive Director of the Women’s Department in Belize. Fonseca obtained a Bachelor of Arts from Viterbo College in Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, a Masters of Arts from the University of Leeds
University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
, England and a PhD in English from the University of the West Indies
University of the West Indies
The University of the West Indies , is an autonomous regional institution supported by and serving 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica,...
. In 1991 Fonseca won the National Poetry Contest sponsored by the Ministry of Education and the University College of Belize's Short Story Contest. Her play "Tiky Bood" received wide acclaim in the 1990s.
Shannon A. Gillett holds a Master of Education degree from the University of North Florida
University of North Florida
The University of North Florida is a public university located in Jacksonville, Florida. A member institution of the State University System of Florida, the university is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master’s...
. She currently works as a Curriculum Officer in the Ministry of Education in Belize. Gillett served as a Lecturer in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the University of Belize and is member of the Belize Chamber Group, and the Pantempters Steel Orchestra.
Felicia Ogaldez Hernandez was born in 1932 in Dangriga
Dangriga
Dangriga, formerly known as Stann Creek Town, is a town in southern Belize, located on the Caribbean coast at the mouth of Stann Creek. It is the capital of Belize's Stann Creek District and also the largest town in southern Belize...
Town, Belize, where she received her formal education. She joined the teaching profession in 1948 and taught in various parts of Belize. She received a trained as a teacher’s diploma from the Belize Teachers College in 1970. Later that year, Hernandez and her family migrated to the US where she continued to teach and took up writing. Hernandez is the author of four books: I don’t know you but I love you (1978), Those Ridiculous Years (1982), Narenga (1993), and Reflections and Other Family Stories (2000). She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative Writing from SUNY Empire State
Empire State College
Empire State College, one of the thirteen arts and science colleges of the State University of New York, is a multi-site institution offering associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees. It is primarily oriented towards the adult learner...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and is a member of the Association of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars (ACWWS). In 1978, Hernandez was awarded an honorary service award from the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
Congress of Parents and Teachers in San Jose.
Yvette M. Holland was born in Belize City
Belize City
Belize City is the largest city in the Central American nation of Belize. Unofficial estimates place the population of Belize City at 70,000 or more. It is located at the mouth of the Belize River on the coast of the Caribbean. The city is the country's principal port and its financial and...
in 1972. She attended Catholic primary and secondary schools in Belize City and later earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English at Le Moyne College
Le Moyne College
Le Moyne College, named after Simon Le Moyne, is a private, Jesuit college enrolling over 3,500 undergraduate and graduate students. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1946, Le Moyne is the first Jesuit college to be founded as a co-educational institution...
in Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
. She later earned a Master’s Degree in English from Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
. Holland currently teaches Composition and Literature at St. John’s Junior College Junior College in Belize City.
Evan X Hyde (born 1947) is the publisher of the Amandala newspaper and an outspoken advocate for the advancement of black people. He majored in English at Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
in Hanover, New Hampshire
Hanover, New Hampshire
Hanover is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,260 at the 2010 census. CNN and Money magazine rated Hanover the sixth best place to live in America in 2011, and the second best in 2007....
. On his return to Belize he helped form the United Black Association for Development (UBAD) and became its second president in 1969. Hyde is the author of several fiction and nonfiction works, including X Communications (Angelus Press 1995) and Sports, Sin and Subversion (Ramos 2008). Hyde is also an accomplished poet and playwright.
Ivory Kelly was born in Sittee River
Sittee River
The Sittee River is a river in Belize.Located in central Belize, the mangroves located at the mouth of this river are the tallest ever reported for the Caribbean region and among the tallest anywhere in the entire Neotropics. The mouth of the Sittee River represents the optimal conditions for...
Village, Belize. She is a career educator who has taught at the primary and secondary levels in Belize for almost two decades and in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
for three years. She also served as Teacher Supervisor at the Belize Teachers College, as Assistant Headmaster of Academic Affairs at St. John’s College, and as a part-time English lecturer at the University of Belize
University of Belize
The University of Belize ' is an English-speaking multi-locational institute for higher education, and the National University of the Central American country of Belize...
. She is the author of Point of Order: Poetry and Prose published by Ramos Publishing in 2009. Her writings also appear in She (Factory Books); Treasures of a Century (Belize National Library Service); Memories, Dreams and Nightmares; and The Alchemy of Words Vol. 2 (Cubola Books). Kelly is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Creative Writing at East Carolina University
East Carolina University
East Carolina University is a public, coeducational, engaged doctoral/research university located in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. Named East Carolina University by statute and commonly known as ECU or East Carolina, the university is the largest institution of higher learning in...
and works as an editorial assistant on the North Carolina Literary Review.
Arifah Hayat Lightburn was born in Belize City
Belize City
Belize City is the largest city in the Central American nation of Belize. Unofficial estimates place the population of Belize City at 70,000 or more. It is located at the mouth of the Belize River on the coast of the Caribbean. The city is the country's principal port and its financial and...
in 1979, the first of three children of Gilbert and Margaret Lightburn. She received her primary level education from Saint Catherine’s Elementary and graduated from Saint Catherine‘s Academy before going on to Saint John’s Junior College where she majored in biology and general studies. She transferred to the University of South Florida
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA...
to study creative writing. After her first degree, she plans to get her MA in Fine Arts, and eventually a Ph.D. She writes for the Amandala newspaper, and enjoys exploring and writing about women and issues that concern them. She is considering a career related to women’s studies and education.
Lydia Balderamos Loskot, the second of eight children, grew up in Belize City. Educated by Mercy nuns at St. Catherine Academy during the 1960s, Lascot acquired a solid background in English as well as religious formation in Catholicism. Her formative years in pre-independence and pre-television Belize paralleled a growing interest in nationalism, culture, and the performing arts in the outer society. Loskot holds a Master’s Degree in English and works in higher education.
Myrna Manzanares holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology with a minor in Education from Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University is an independent, private, medium-sized university affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The university's campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States, near Malibu, is the location for Seaver College, the School of...
in southern California. She completed postgraduate work in Community Clinical Psychology from California State University, Long Beach
California State University, Long Beach
California State University, Long Beach is the second largest campus of the California State University system and the third largest university in the state of California by enrollment...
and is a trained counselor. Manzanares worked as a teacher for 15 years in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
before moving back to live and work in Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
in 1986. She worked as a Lecturer at the Belize Teachers College, and the University College of Belize; as the Program Specialist/ Manager for Pride Belize, and as a Master Trainer with the Belize Institute of Management. Most of her work in Belize has been in the areas of culture, drug abuse prevention, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence and other social and development areas. As a professional storyteller and dramatist, Manzanares writes mainly about social issues and supernatural folklore. She has one daughter and an adopted son.
Corinth Morter-Lewis is a lecturer at the University of Belize
University of Belize
The University of Belize ' is an English-speaking multi-locational institute for higher education, and the National University of the Central American country of Belize...
where she served as President from 2003 to 2007. She was born in Belize City
Belize City
Belize City is the largest city in the Central American nation of Belize. Unofficial estimates place the population of Belize City at 70,000 or more. It is located at the mouth of the Belize River on the coast of the Caribbean. The city is the country's principal port and its financial and...
and educated at Ebenezer Primary School, the Belize Technical College, the University of New Brunswick
University of New Brunswick
The University of New Brunswick is a Canadian university located in the province of New Brunswick. UNB is the oldest English language university in Canada and among the first public universities in North America. The university has two main campuses: the original campus founded in 1785 in...
in Canada, Ball State University
Ball State University
Ball State University is a state-run research university located in Muncie, Indiana. It is also known as Ball State or simply BSU.Located on the northwest side of the city, Ball State's campus spans and includes 106 buildings...
in the United States, and the University of Alberta
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
, Canada. She holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology as a Chartered Psychologist. Lewis’s writing career began in 1957 when she won her first short story contest sponsored by the then Belize Billboard, and between 1965 and 1996 she received various awards in national poetry contests for her poems “Arise” and “United.” In 1976 Lewis published an anthology of some forty poems in Share My Song. Her poems address a wide range of themes spanning childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. Lewis was a key player in the development of Belize’s National Arts Council during its formative years and was appointed its first Chairperson in 1981.
Mary Gomez Parham lives in Houston, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, and is a poet and writer of fiction. She holds a Ph.D. in Spanish from UCLA and has been a professor of Spanish for many years at the University of Houston
University of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
. She is the recipient of two Fulbright grants and has published widely in the fields of Latin American literature and culture. With Timothy Hagerty, she published If Di Pin Neva Ben: Folktales and Legends of Belize (Cubola Productions). Her poetry has been anthologized in On Words: An Anthology of Belizean Poetry (Cubola Productions) and Echoes for a New Room: Twelve Voices (Brown Rabbit Press) and has been published in various magazines and journals including The Caribbean Writer.
Michael D. Phillips made his first visit to Belize in 1982 and has been back many times since. What began as an innocent interest has become a passion, both personal and academic. He has presented his research on Belize at the SPEAR conference, 'Latin American Studies Association Convention Interdisciplinary Belize Conference' (1992), and at several smaller regional meetings. He has written extensively about tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
in Belize and recently published an article on that subject in Belizean Studies. Professor Phillips currently teaches in the Department of Humanities, Classics, and Comparative Literature at Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
in Provo, Utah
Provo, Utah
Provo is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Utah, located about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the county seat of Utah County and lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south...
, where he is working on a history of the Festival of Arts as part of a larger work concerned with Nationalism and Cultural Change in Belize. Previous to his work at Brigham Young University, Professor Phillips was a graduate student at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, where he organized a workshop on Belize which included the participation of Zee Edgell and Robert Reneau. With a background in cultural studies, Professor Phillips is committed to the collection and preservation of the best of Belizean Arts and Letters.
Ingrid Reneau is a native Belizean who migrated to the United States when she was 13. She holds a Ph.D. in Literatures in English from Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
. Her research interests include Literatures of the African Diaspora
African diaspora
The African diaspora was the movement of Africans and their descendants to places throughout the world—predominantly to the Americas also to Europe, the Middle East and other places around the globe...
, especially women writers; African Diaspora Rituals and Spirituality; and Black Feminist Theory. She is an Assistant Professor and holds a joint appointment in the English Department and Women’s Studies Program at the University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
. In 2007 Reneau was appointed education officer in Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
.
Helen Elliott Rocke is a Belizean educator and author. Her desire to write was encouraged through childhood experiences she had in rural villages of the Belize District and the West Indian islands of Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
and Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
. Helen graduated from the Belize Teachers’ College in 1983. She later won the President’s Prize on the ACP examination in 1994 from the College of Teachers
College of Teachers
The College of Teachers is an examining body and learned society of teachers, professors and associated professionals who work in education in the United Kingdom and elsewhere....
in England. Helen is presently completing a Master’s Degree in Instruction and Curriculum from the University of North Florida
University of North Florida
The University of North Florida is a public university located in Jacksonville, Florida. A member institution of the State University System of Florida, the university is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master’s...
. As a member of the Belize Kriol Project, Helen wrote part-time in the Weh Ah Gat Fi Seh articles in the Amandala and Reporter newspapers. She began her career as an author of Belizean children’s literature in 1994. Her Jimbo Mysteries are used in many Belizean primary schools.
Gladys Stuart (born 1917) was a career educator well-known for her sense of humor and dramatic abilities. She began working at the age of 14, teaching all grades as well as serving as principal for five decades. Her radio program "Cousin Winnifred" is remembered fondly by many Belizeans as are her numerous comedic performances.
Sylvia Nablo de Vasquez was born in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada, and moved to the Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
prairie at the age of four. When she was eight years old her parents moved with her and her siblings to San Ignacio, Belize as Baha’i pioneers. Over the years Sylvia moved back and forth between the two countries, but lived more than half her life in Belize. Nablo de Vasquez currently lives in Swift Current, on the Saskatchewan prairie with her husband and their three children, who were born in Belize.
Melba Marin-Velasquez was born in San Ignacio Town, Belize. She attended Sacred Heart College and the University College of Belize. She holds a Master’s degree in Secondary Education from the University of North Florida
University of North Florida
The University of North Florida is a public university located in Jacksonville, Florida. A member institution of the State University System of Florida, the university is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master’s...
. She has taught at Sacred Heart College for many years.
Lawrence G. Vernon (born 1937) is a librarian who studied in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and worked for many years in the Belize National Library Service before being appointed Chief Librarian. He is currently Library Director at the University College of Belize.
Evadne L. Wade-Garcia (1950–2005) served as Director of the Geology and Petroleum Unit in Belize’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Transportation. She studied petroleum law at the University of the West Indies
University of the West Indies
The University of the West Indies , is an autonomous regional institution supported by and serving 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica,...
, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
and the University of Dundee
University of Dundee
The University of Dundee is a university based in the city and Royal burgh of Dundee on eastern coast of the central Lowlands of Scotland and with a small number of institutions elsewhere....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. She is a writer of both children's books and novels.
John Alexander Waller has resided in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, USA, for some time. He was the driving force behind an earlier collection of short stories, Among My Souvenirs, which he co-authored with Leo Bradley and Lawrence Vernon. His later works often appeared in Brukdown, and he is known for his epic poetry which focuses on Belizean history.
Shirley Warde (1901–1991) was an expatriate American and Off Broadway actress who first visited Belize in 1953 as a Baha'i missionary. She spent the rest of her life in the country and was actively involved in theatre, collecting folk tales, and wood carving. She also worked as a teacher and editor. Warde's best-known production was the musical extravaganza Boss King which played a record 19 sold-out performances at the Bliss Institute in 1965.
Gay Wilentz (-2006) served for many years as Director of Ethnic Studies and Professor of English at East Carolina University
East Carolina University
East Carolina University is a public, coeducational, engaged doctoral/research university located in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. Named East Carolina University by statute and commonly known as ECU or East Carolina, the university is the largest institution of higher learning in...
and Visiting Professor at the University of Belize
University of Belize
The University of Belize ' is an English-speaking multi-locational institute for higher education, and the National University of the Central American country of Belize...
. Her first critical work, Binding Cultures: Black Women Writers in Africa and the Diaspora, examines women’s role in the transmission of culture on both sides of the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. Wilentz is the co-editor of Africa World Press’s Emerging Perspectives on Ama Ata Aidoo, and she is the editor of Jewish immigrant writer Anzia Yezierska’s 1923 novel, Salome of the Tenements, reprinted in 1991. Wilentz has published essays in College English, African American Review, Research in African Literatures, Twentieth Century Literature, and MELUS, among other publications. She also contributed chapters in books on authors from the US, the African continent and the Caribbean. Her most recent book, Healing Narratives: Women Writers Curing Cultural Dis-Ease, is an interdisciplinary, critical work that explores cultural healing in women’s writings of the African Diaspora, indigenous cultures, and the Jewish Diaspora.
Natalie Williams was born in Belize City
Belize City
Belize City is the largest city in the Central American nation of Belize. Unofficial estimates place the population of Belize City at 70,000 or more. It is located at the mouth of the Belize River on the coast of the Caribbean. The city is the country's principal port and its financial and...
, Belize. After high school, she won the Governor General’s scholarship which allowed her to earn a Bachelor of Education in English and Art Education from the University of Victoria
University of Victoria
The University of Victoria, often referred to as UVic, is the second oldest public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It is a research intensive university located in Saanich and Oak Bay, about northeast of downtown Victoria. The University's annual enrollment is about 20,000 students...
in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada. 1990 currently teaches at Sacred Heart College in San Ignacio after teaching at St. John’s Junior College in Belize City. Her creativity extends to painting, and she has works with special needs students at Stella Maris School in two-dimensional artwork.
Sir Colville Young (born 1932) became Belize's second Governor-General in November 1993. He studied at the University of the West Indies
University of the West Indies
The University of the West Indies , is an autonomous regional institution supported by and serving 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica,...
and the University of York
University of York
The University of York , is an academic institution located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the campus university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects...
in the United Kingdom. Before his appointment as Governor-General Young was a lecturer at the University College of Belize where he served as founding president. He is a prolific author, composer, playwright and poet.